Possible Solution for TW-Lock-, Startup-, Sound- Problems

[Mike6800]

Hello Everyone,

I own the FW190 Early Variants (V2) for quite a while but the above showstoppers like suddenly completely locked Tailwheel (or completely unlocked as well) , the impossibility of a manual startup (sometimes possible sometimes not) or a roaring engine sound after switching through views made me uninstall the bird although I thought that it was a very fine peace of art !!!
Now I installed the FW190 again and all the quirks came back, but only sometimes . And i always had to load the aircraft twice by 'reload user aircraft' shortcut in order to load it properly.
After trying around a couple of days I noticed as soon I switched into 2D-Panel view the tailwheel kept being locked and i was not able to start the plane manually (ctrl-e only).
To make it short I opened the resp. panel.cfg and commented the gauges out of the 2D-panel-view:

[Window00]
Background_color=0,0,0
size_mm=1280,960
window_size_ratio=1.000
position=7
visible=1
ident=MAIN_PANEL
window_size= 1.000, 1.000
window_pos= 0.000, 0.000
no_luminous=1
zorder=0
view_window_rect=0,0,8192,6144

//gauge00=ClassicsHangar_XMLSound!FBGS_XMLSound, 12,1,5,5
//gauge01=classics_hangar!ch_fw190a4, 6,1,5,5
//gauge02=classics_hangar!ch_fw190a4_2, 1,1,5,5

Now the above quirks seem completely gone. Everything seems to load fine from the start, no need to reload user aircraft i.o. to make some systems work. No 'sudden' and unwanted tailwheel locks, no startup problems and no sound issues after switching through views. But I'm still testing though.

Best regards,
Mike.

[Mathias Pommerien]

Welcome Mike,

- The Fw190 - like the P-51- has an automatic tailwheel lock.
To unlock it move the stick forward as documented in the handbook.

- Engine start/reloading issue. This is known FSX issue that applies to many third party aircraft that use advanced system modelling and is usually caused by whatever is stored in your default flight.
To come around the issue load the default flight and make your settings from there. Once happy with the flight situation (cold and dark or whatever you want) save the flight and use it the next time you want to make a flight with the Fw190.

Sound issue: Click on "Start -all programs - classics hangar - Fw190A1-A4 - check for updates" and download the sound patch.

[Mike6800]

Hi Matthias,

first of all I want to thank You for Your FW190 and the Bf108. They both are a big Joy to fly !
But for the FW I experienced some quirks I solved for myself with the above solution.
For the tailwheel lock: I really enjoyed the simulation of the automatic TW-Lock but in the above described situation the TW kept being locked (or unlocked) never mind how much I pushed the Joystick to the front. Only 'Reload-User AC' made the function work again.
For the Sound: I applied the sound-patch before, which indeed worked very fine. But I found that the Flaps - Sounds were shortened when moving the flaps from one position to the other compared the original package.
For the startup: I use the original FSX default flight und didn't load any other aircraft prior to the FW. But I always had to reload the FW in order to make it load properly.
Now everything works fine. But please don't take my post as a criticism of your fine work, cause I really adore what You and Your team has created with the FW190 and the bf-108 !
I just wanted to show a possible work-around for the quirks that FSX can cause to some aircraft.

Best regards from Berlin,
Mike

[Mathias Pommerien]

The problem with dissabling the gauges is that you kill a lot of the system modelling, required "background" code plus the custom cockpit sounds so it's not really advided to do anything like that.
Better use the realism tool to switch to just fly mode.

Let me look into the flaps sound, though I didn't change anything there, at least not knowingly, LOL.

On the startup issue, what happens if you reload the aircraft and then save the flight.
When you boot off this newly saved flight, do you still need to reload the aircraft?

[Mike6800]

Hi Matthias,

when the situation occurs that no manual startup is possible reloading the plane doesn't help only ctrl-e starts the engine then. When I switch over to another plane the same situation happens to that one. Reloading and then saving also didn't help. This situation mostly happened when I saved after a long flight.
As for the missing systems and cockpit sounds: I'm really far away of being a specialist for anything but as far as I can see and hear the gauges are responding and all the cockpit sounds are there. (But o.k. this doesn't mean a lot )

Best regards,
Mike.

[Mike6800]

Sound and Startup Problems came back. The only thing that really was cured by the above solution is the un-unlockable tailwheel. So I'm very sorry for the above and for the misleading thread title !
As for the startup problems, I could nail them down to temperature. On my rig the FW190 cannot be started manually when loading her cold&dark at a OT at exactly 32°F/0°C. For testing I used several ways and the result was always the same.
I could load the MS C172 or MS Trike first and cut them down and then load the FW, the FW wouldn't start when the OT was 0°C.
Reloading the FW again changing the OT to other than 32°F (31°F/33°F) made a manual start possible again. With engines running at OT 32°F and then cutting her down it was possible to start her again manually. But starting a flight c&d at 32°F the FW190 woudn't start by hand. Also I could save several c&d flights at different temperatures. At the one with OT 0°C the FW wouldn*t start.
Also tested the extreme temps like -139°F and 167°F. In both cases it could be started manually out of a c&d situation.
I tested it at KSEA (more or less sealevel) and KLXV - Leadville (9933 ft.) in both cases same behaviour.
The whole thing was tested with and without AS2012.
So the workaround when the startup prob happens could be checking the OT, when it's 32°F change it and then 'reload user aircraft'.
As for the sound I applied the patch again and I think it's good that the Flaps-sounds are somehow shortened when moving the flaps from one position to another. As they are fully played when the flaps are fully moved from up to landing I notice it when it accedentely happens without watching the flpas or the gauge.
So once again sorry for the misleading post and for posting before further testing !

Best regards,
Mike.

[Mathias Pommerien]

Hmm, the sound thing is an FSX glitch that can happen occasionally with every other plane, too.
The stock Goose for instance is known to produce the same sound issue.
We have reduced the trouble by resaving all wav files to 16b signed PCM and doing a bit of cleanup to the sound.cfg so far with good results.
A workaround is to throttle up and down when the sound hangs.
I'm afraid there is nothing else we can do to further improve on this issue.

Engine start at 0°C: Try 15 primer strokes and see if that helps.

[Mike6800]

I agree with you about the sound thing. A very popular glitch in FSX. A workaround for that is pausing/unpausing the game.
I assigned the '^' Key in FSUIPC wtih 'toggle pause' when its pushed and 'toggle pause' when its released. This way the sim is paused for only a very short moment. Then the sound is fine until I switch through the views again.
As for the startup problems: 15 strokes didn't do the trick either. The plane won't start by hand.

Best regards,
Mike.

[Mathias Pommerien]

Mike, just started her fine at temperartures of 0°C and below using 12 primer strokes.

[Mike6800]

Yo, below 0°C is no problem. But did You load her c&d at exactly 0°C ? I just tried it again , loading her c&d at 0°C and she didn't start. Then changing the temp to something different than 0°C (in this case -1°C) and reloading her made manual start possible again (12 strokes). But o.k. maybe I'm cought in some kind of brain loop here , not unusual for my person .